Highclere Racing: Bendigo Cup to perfectly suit Lord Belvedere
Bendigo Cup to perfectly suit Lord Belvedere
After three consecutive wins Lord Belvedere’s march on the feature spring contests was dealt a blow when losing a plate and pulling up sore in the Bart Cummings at Flemington on October 3, a race that would have given him ballot-free entry into the Melbourne Cup.
Now firing again on all cylinders, the Highclere team are confident of a positive result in today’s Bendigo Cup, with everything falling into place for the seven-year-old.
“We’re going to head to Bendigo with Lord Belvedere,” said Highclere Racing director Niall Power. “He’s got a good barrier in three which will enable him to get the rails’ run and the going at the moment is a Good 4, which would suit him perfectly, so everything is lining up well for today, whereas on Saturday, for the Lexus, we don’t know what the situation will be, what barrier draw he’ll get and it’s certainly a tougher race.”
Although the lure of a berth in this year’s Melbourne Cup is an attractive prospect for Highclere, they stand by the interests of the horse with the three-day back up likely to prove a tough ask for a horse that likes his runs spaced.
“Backing up from the Lexus into the Melbourne Cup is a tall order, but especially for him, he’s proven to like his runs spaced three to four weeks apart. He needs that time to recover between races.
“It would have been lovely to have a horse in the race and for the owners to get excited about it, but we feel it’s best by the horse that we go to Bendigo than going for a dream which would be a tough ask.”
Having proved his capability as a Cups contender Highclere are planning for next year’s route to Flemington, on the first Tuesday in November.
“It’s still a Group 3 at Bendigo, and he’s very much a progressive horse, so if he were to get the result it would mean for a higher handicap rating as we look towards next year’s carnival with him.”
As an interesting side note to today’s race, Lord Belvedere comes up against his half brother, the Joseph O’Brien-trained Pondus, who races in the Lloyd Williams colours.
Edison collects Night of Champions Award
Edison, who strung back-to-back wins together in July, saw Highclere claim a Trophy on NSW’s Racing Night of Champions, with the four-year-old the joint winner of the BOBs Horse of the Year.
The Bjorn Baker-trained gelding won over $70,000 in BOBs bonuses, a scheme Power has commended.
“It was a fantastic run of form he went on and it’s a great reward for our owners. It’s a sensational scheme from Racing NSW and all the more reason to own and race a horse with us. The possibilities and prospects for earning prize money and bonuses are excellent.”
Edison will seek to chase more lucrative purses, as he targets the Magic Millions carnival in January having opened his preparation with an encouraging second at Randwick, with Power saying the best is yet to come from the son of Fastnet Rock.
“Race fitness just told for Edison at Randwick on Saturday. The other horse had a couple of runs under his belt and that made the difference, otherwise he probably would have won,” said Power. “He’s come back in great order and it’s certainly a very encouraging start to his prep. He’ll target the Newcastle feature meeting in three weeks time where he’ll contest a $125,000 race on the undercard of The Hunter.
“Hopefully we can get him on a nice track. His last five runs have all been on heavy tracks, and although he’s picked up two wins and a second, Bjorn is adamant that we’ll see the best of him on a good surface. To do what he’s doing on those heavier tracks is pretty impressive.
“He’s going to be spot on for the Magic Millions Race Series in January, where he’ll be going for a million-dollar race and it’ll be a great day out for the owners. He should continue to progress, his coat hasn’t really come out yet and will take more in fitness gains.
Of others to note from the Highclere team, Bartholomeu Dias proved a big prize may not be far around the corner after only being beaten two lengths in the Seymour Cup when making eye-catching ground from the rear in what was a slowly-run race.
Three-year-old Patented is one who is really primed to progress. Having claimed a maiden victory in his opening three starts, the Anthony and Sam Freedman-trained son of Zoustar is set for a weekend start at either Traralgon or Mornington.
“If he draws a gate, he’ll hopefully jump and lead and be very hard to beat,” said Power.
New additions sell out in record time
A mark of success that an ownership model is working is the length of time it takes to sell the shares, and in the case of Grinling, the latest addition to the Highclere Australia team, shares in the twice-winning son of Mastercraftsman sold within 24 hours, as was the case with August purchase Great House.
“Grinling is a new recruit that we purchased and he’ll end up coming out of quarantine in December,” said Power.
“It was amazing, his shares sold almost immediately. A lot of the guys who are in Lord Belvedere have come across into him, so he’s got a fantastic group of owners in him.
“It’s great to get them done so quick, with both Great House and Grinling, they were both sold within 24 hours, which is a great position to be in.”
Former Donnacha O’Brien trainee, Great House, came out of quarantine yesterday, and will now head under the care of champion trainer Chris Waller.
“He looks magnificent and is heading out to Chris Waller’s pre-training facility where he’ll head to the beach and just unwind from the quarantine experience, get some time in the water, before moving up to Sydney.”
The Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale, a fertile ground for uncovering champion horses to race in Australia, is currently underway, with the likes of Highclere’s Lord Belvedere, as well as Group 1 winner Fierce Impact bought out of this sale in recent years.
The advice is to register your interest now to become involved in racing any Highclere purchases in Australia.
“It’s a proven sale for owners to come and get involved with us,” said Power. “Given how quickly the last few horses have sold, I’d encourage any owners to get in touch and register their interest with us for any horse we purchase out of the sale.”
Please contact niall@niallpower.com to register your interest.